13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kalwin

Everything was going too well.

Bren had met all my brothers. Once he was comfortable with Cort and Iain, the other three came in to meet him. In addition to meeting them, Neale had gotten to meet his cousins. They all cooed and awed over him and tried to share their toys. It was a beautiful thing, more perfect than I could ever imagine. I should have known that dinner was going to be a catastrophe.

Neale was all tired out from his play, so he was asleep in the crib that I had placed in my suite. Bren had been reluctant to leave him, of course, but I showed him the monitoring system that we had and the handheld tablet he could carry that would show him a view of Neale constantly. Plus, there was a guard outside the door.

There was no place safer than the palace for a young prince.

My parents insisted on having the dinner to meet Bren in the dining area meant for family, so that was reassuring. We wouldn't be putting on too much of a fanfare.

Things were going well until the topic of the future came up.

My alpha father cleared his throat halfway through the meal. He was used to being king but had taken to retirement quite well, better than any of us had expected. He sat across from Bren and me, while Cort and his husband sat at the head of the table.

"We'll have to discuss the communication plan to help explain about Neale," he said. "And Bren, of course. The press will have questions. So will the people."

As always, every time my omega father heard my son's name, he smiled. "I just can't believe you named him after me."

Bren blushed. "I liked the name when I was here and heard it so often. It kind of stuck. I guess it was fate." He smiled at me with stars in his eyes. He still looked tired, but it seemed to me that he was more relaxed than when I had first seen him at the daycare center.

I squeezed Bren's hand. "Father, we really don't have to discuss any sort of communication plan. Bren and I will work that out, with Cort's permission, of course."

"Of course," Cort said. "Take all the time you need."

"You need to bring your PR people into this already, Kalwin. You have to get ahead of the scandal before it gets ahead of you. We're lucky the press didn't get wind of this sooner. We need time to spin our own narrative."

"Your father is right. Cort shouldn't have to deal with the backlash from this. It would detract from the initiatives that he has been working on," my omega father added.

"I can speak for myself, Father. I am not concerned about how a scandal will—"

"It is not a scandal," Bren said quietly but with conviction. Bren tensed up each time they said the word "scandal."

I lifted his knuckles to my lips and kissed them. He may have just interrupted the crowned King of Swena, but I loved him for it.

He gave me a reassuring smile.

Cort winked at him. "It is not. Any addition to the family is a blessing."

"I understand that we all are excited about this, and I mean no disrespect to you, Bren. We are very happy. We're excited to have you as part of the family. But there will be backlash from this. We need to make sure that we legitimize Neale as soon as possible." My alpha father rapped his knuckles on the table a little too harshly, and it made Bren jump.

"Legitimize?" Bren stood up. "This is a lot," he said, panic in his eyes.

"Father, I told you we weren't going to discuss this now," Cort said.

The rest of the table was quiet, their gazes ping-ponging between Cort and our fathers.

I cleared my throat. "Cort and I already have a plan. And regardless, it's not a big deal. We plan on telling the truth—"

"That you had a fling that resulted in a child? At least flub the details a little, Son," my omega father said.

"I am not ashamed of what happened between Kalwin and me. And honestly, I don't want to sit here and talk about this. The circumstances are what they are. I'm not going to lie to the public about what happened," Bren said.

"Son, we understand. But the people are—"

"Going to have to accept it," he said, and I couldn't be more proud.

"That's just not how this works. We've been through this kind of thing before."

Bren stepped away from the table. "Excuse me, I'd like to go see my son. It was very nice to meet you two."

"I'll escort you," Iain said as he went to Bren's side.

Once they were gone from the room, I glared at my fathers. "This was to be an introduction only. I meant for you to meet Bren, not strong-arm him into a discussion that quite frankly doesn't concern you."

My alpha father grunted. "We didn't mean to upset him, but this concerns all of us."

"I agree with Kalwin. He and I have started talking about this already. We planned to discuss it further with Bren when he was ready, not a moment sooner."

My omega father sighed. "We are sorry dear. We just worry. We've all seen what has happened with other families of high standing when an illegitimate—"

"My son is not illegitimate."

My fathers exchanged a glance, speaking silently with just a look. "We know that, dear."

"And we are sorry for upsetting Bren. Sometimes we forget that we don't need to be in the details of family communications to the public," the former king said. He held my omega father's hand and lifted it his lips, kissing the knuckles like I had done to Bren just a few moments ago.

"Should we go speak to him? We would like to apologize."

I shook my head. "Not tonight. He will be here for a week at least, longer if I have anything to say about it."

"You love him." My omega father smiled. Not only did my son share his name, but they had the same smile as well.

"I do," I said.

"That is all we need to know. Do go talk to him, dear. We can speak to him tomorrow perhaps and give our apologies. We'll start over."

"Thank you," I said. I looked to Cort.

He nodded. "Go. The meal is over anyway, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired."

I chuckled. "Being king keeping you up all night?"

He laughed. "I wish. Unfortunately, our oldest is convinced there are monsters in his room and he has camped out in ours for the past few nights. He kicks."

My omega father smiled. "You went through a phase like that when Augustus was born, only you thought there were monsters in the toilet. You insisted on going back to diapers."

Cort grimaced, while his husband laughed heartily. "Right. Well, let's not let the press hear of that one."